As thousands took to the streets at the weekend, it quickly became clear that the Partido Popular’s approach to job creation had more than a few critics. Focusing their anger on reforms passed on February 9, critics called out the new government’s efforts to reduce mandatory severance pay from 45 to 33 days per year worked and allowing what they felt was an unfair freedom for companies to opt out of collective bargaining agreements and adjust wages and hours according to their financial standing. The Rajoy government insisted that it “wants to give firms the ability to modify workers' hours in response to demand rather than simply laying them off, bringing an end to the rapid rise in … [Read more...] about Rajoy, reform and the burden of employment expectations
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Valencia’s Camps is off the hook, but something still smells rotten
Francisco Camps has reason to celebrate. The Popular Party’s former president of the Valencia region has been absolved of charges of taking bribes in the form of designer suits and other garments from a businessman at the heart of the Gürtel corruption scandal. After a two-week trial, the jury voted, five votes to four, that the accusations could not be proved. But while Camps has expressed his joy at defeating the conspiracy he says was behind this case, his own party has been less jubilant. Virtually all the senior party figures who have responded to the verdict have advised Camps to take a break from politics, from Valencia mayor Rita Barberá to Alberto Fabra, his successor as regional … [Read more...] about Valencia’s Camps is off the hook, but something still smells rotten
Fraga: a unique figure during an extraordinary time
The last time the conservative Partido Popular (PP) was governing Spain, the satirical television show Los Guiñoles was still being broadcast, with its latex puppets lampooning the country’s public figures. One of its most memorable targets was Manuel Fraga, even then a decidedly long-in-the-tooth politician, who on at least one occasion was portrayed as a dinosaur, complete with scaly tail and brontosaurus-style limbs. This image was fuelled by the fact that Fraga was still, in his eighties, the premier of Galicia, a position he held between 1990 and 2005. Also, perhaps most famously, he had been a minister under Franco. But it’s clear that there was more to Fraga, who died on Sunday … [Read more...] about Fraga: a unique figure during an extraordinary time
Read my lips: Why did Rajoy break one of his few campaign promises?
“My intention is not to raise taxes.” It’s a line that Mariano Rajoy’s critics will repeat back at him for years to come. Much like George H. W. Bush’s infamous “Read my lips: no new taxes”, Rajoy’s pledge, made on December 19, during the debate ahead of his investiture as Spain’s new prime minister, has proved to be empty. Unlike Bush, Rajoy has not resisted or dragged his feet in performing a spectacular U-turn on this issue. Eleven days after saying he wouldn’t raise taxes, his deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, announced tax increases that will bring in an extra €6 billion this year. As Spaniards digest the implications of the new Popular Party government’s … [Read more...] about Read my lips: Why did Rajoy break one of his few campaign promises?
A short honeymoon for Spain’s Rajoy
When Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría announced the new Spanish government’s battery of cuts worth €8.9 million plus tax increases, there were plenty of questions in the air. Why such heavy cuts? How will the new tax increases work? Will there be more cuts? The deputy prime minister’s answer to the first query was that the cuts are extreme because the 2011 deficit is 8 percent of GDP, rather than the 6 percent the outgoing Socialists had estimated. Public Administrations Minister Cristóbal Montoro offered detail about the tax rises. And the fact that the 2012 budget has yet to be presented means yes, there will be more austerity measures later in the year, although … [Read more...] about A short honeymoon for Spain’s Rajoy
Spain’s Socialists don’t know where to turn
A new Spanish government takes office and the year comes to a close, but the end is still not in sight for the existential crisis that the country's Socialist Party (PSOE) is suffering. It's a crisis that one way or another, the PSOE has been going through for about 12 months, ever since José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero let slip, around Christmas of last year, that he might not be the party's candidate in the next general elections. The frenzy of expectation was only partially dampened when Zapatero confirmed he wouldn't be running, and the debate over who would succeed him gathered steam. The “debate” turned into a swift rubber-stamping of the veteran Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba as the … [Read more...] about Spain’s Socialists don’t know where to turn
María Dolores de Cospedal
Spain may have voted in a new prime minister in 2011, but it’s fair to say that Mariano Rajoy has not been a towering figure on the country’s political landscape. Instead, he let his Socialist rivals’ desperate struggle with the economic crisis do his talking for him. The Popular Party (PP) leader revealed little of his own plans for the Spanish economy, but others in the party were more forthright. Among them was party number two María Dolores de Cospedal. This year saw her step further into the limelight as she overthrew a longstanding Socialist government in Castilla-La Mancha to become the region’s new premier. On taking power there, she swiftly announced heavy, controversial cuts to … [Read more...] about María Dolores de Cospedal
Rajoy must take reins swiftly to avoid economic chaos
Mariano Rajoy’s resounding election win has redrawn Spain’s political map and put his Popular Party (PP) firmly in control of the country after seven-and-a-half years of Socialist government. He could hardly face a more difficult task on being voted prime minister. In the days leading up to the election, Spain’s economy was being battered by the markets, with its bond prices close to those of beleaguered Italy. Italy hopes it has just overcome its own political upheaval; Spain’s situation is less clear-cut. Spanish law dictates a lengthy hiatus between a prime minister’s election win and his instatement. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s successor as prime minister was not due to be sworn … [Read more...] about Rajoy must take reins swiftly to avoid economic chaos
Right sweeps to power in Spain, but don’t expect “miracles”
"There will be no miracles, I didn't promise any," PP leader Mariano Rajoy declared pragmatically on Sunday night after his party took almost 45 percent of the vote, winning an absolute majority in Congress in its strongest ever election result. With 186 seats in the 350-seat Congress, Rajoy, who is due to take office in a month, will have a virtually free hand to carry out reforms, although no one knows for sure what steps the new government plans to take to end years of recession and anaemic growth, the euro zone's highest unemployment rate and an escalating debt crisis. Having kept his cards close to his chest throughout the campaign, Rajoy will now be expected to show them - … [Read more...] about Right sweeps to power in Spain, but don’t expect “miracles”
The solution to the Catalan problem?
Catalan separatism has two anchor points, the traditional one is of a cultural nature (with the Catalan language at its core), the other one, of more recent creation and which has built up a new group of pragmatic followers making inroads even among Spanish speakers, is based on money: the fiscal deficit of Catalonia with the central state has over the past year or so evolved into the main argument for secession. This makes one feel that to get rid of the problem of Catalan separatism, Madrid only has to throw money at the region. And that it had better do, because this new group has the potential to grow into a serious problem, unlike the ethnocentrists, whose numbers remain basically … [Read more...] about The solution to the Catalan problem?